An initial public offering (IPO) was launched on 29 July of 45 per cent of shares in Yemen Mobile, the country's third mobile operator. The company is wholly owned by the government's Public Telecommunications Corporation.

On offer are 86,524 million shares priced at YR 500 ($2.50) plus a subscription fee of YR 10 ($0.01). The announcement of the IPO by the Telecommunications & Information Technology Ministry (MTIT) did not specify a date for the IPO's closure.

The lead managers are Co-operative Agricultural Credit Bank, National Bank of Yemen and Yemen Bank for Reconstruction & Development. Following the IPO, shares will be traded through banks pending the establishment of a local stock exchange.

Yemen Mobile was granted a licence without competition in 2004. By June 2006, Yemen Mobile had about 500,000 subscribers, compared to about 884,000 and 925,000 respectively for Spacetel and Sabafone, the other two local operators.

The fourth mobile licence is understood to have finally been awarded to the Unitel consortium after a protracted process of negotiation and a change in ownership structure. Unitel, at the time a Chinese/local venture, submitted the highest bid of $149 million for the licence in August last year (MEED 12:8:05).

However, late payment and delayed start-up prompted MTIT to invite the second highest bidder, Oman Mobile, to enter negotiations. The Omani operator subsequently withdrew while a consortium of Saudi, Kuwaiti and UAE investors led by Saudi Arabia's House of Integrated Technology & Systems (HITS) acquired a substantial stake in Unitel (MEED 7:7:06).